I hope our sisters and brothers are ultimately triumphant in this matter.

WASHINGTON — Claudia Zea and Elizabeth Castillo’s September wedding in the Colombian city of Gachetá was a legal triumph. They were among the first to secure marriage licenses under an order of the Constitutional Court.

But now they, like all the Colombian same-sex couples who have secured marriage licenses in the past few months, are facing a special type of legal action to have their marriage annulled. And this legal counter-offensive is shaping up to be a referendum on the independence of the judiciary and its historic role of protecting the rights of minorities.

The legal vehicle gay marriage opponents are using is especially galling to Castillo, who is a lawyer. The method, known as an acción de tutela, which has no U.S. equivalent, is specifically intended to provide emergency relief to those who’s rights are violated — but in these cases is being turned on its head to reverse rights.